Ella Fitzgelard: And all that jazz

That evening, the music industry gained a singer whose technical brilliance and perfect pitch would dazzle audiences around the world and earn her a coveted title -- America's "First Lady of Song."

Fitzgerald, who had rudimentary musical education, quickly built a reputation among musicians and singers for her clarity of tone, her rhythmic perfection and a range that ran from sombre lows to tinkling highs. She soon became a celebrity of the swing era with performances such as A-tisket, A-tasket (1938) and Undecided (1939).

She developed a technique known as scat singing, in which she improvised wordlessly with her voice to give the effect of an instrumental soloist. While the style in itself was not unique, she perfected it. She also became known for her renderings of ballads.

In 1946 she began touring the United States as part of the Jazz at the Philharmonic company. These tours eventually were extended to include Europe and Asia.

Fitzgerald's first featured film performance, in Pete Kelly's Blues in 1955, only made her more popular.

Critics disagreed about Fitzgerald's place in history as jazz singer and creator; Nat Hentoff called her a "peerless popular singer" rather than a great artiste.

But she never lost the appreciation of her audiences. Her series of annual tours of Europe, often in the company of virtuoso pianist Oscar Peterson, drew huge crowds.

Since her early days, she was consistently rated top female vocalist in a variety of polls, winning 10 Grammy awards for her performances. Even her colleagues in the music industry adored her; Frank Sinatra once hailed her as the best singer in the world.

A New York benefit in early 1990 attracted stars ranging from opera great Jessye Norman to jazz trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie and pop singer Linda Ronstadt to pay her homage.

During the latter part of 1986, Fitzgerald underwent open- heart surgery and was forced to cancel all performances for the next several months. But a year later, she returned to the stage, as vivacious as ever. But her health progressively worsened. In 1993, complications from diabetes led to the amputation of both her legs.

Her death in 1996 brought to a close a glorious career that spanned nearly six decades and a golden chapter in jazz.

Compiled by Cultural Correspondent